1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to multi-pass ink jet printing. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and system for detecting one or more failed ink jets in an ink jet printer.
2. Description of the Related Technology
A basic premise of ink jet printers is that all ink jets must "fire" properly (i.e., eject ink droplets) or the quality of the present image may be degraded. The detection of nonfunctional ink jets, otherwise referred to herein as "open jet detection," is a method of determining which jets within a printhead cartridge are electrically nonfunctional. This electrical non-functionality can result from open traces, damaged drop ejection resistors, changed resistance values, or poor contact between the cartridge and a "flex circuit" which provides control signals to the cartridge. All of these errors may cause one or more jets of a printhead cartridge to not fire, or fire improperly, resulting in anomalies in the printed image.
Defective jets can also result from clogged jet nozzles. Current open jet detection methods are unable to electronically detect clogged jets that are still electrically correct. However, by executing a prime printing pattern using a printhead cartridge under test, and observing the printed results, a user may identify clogged jets and manually input the address or reference designation of each clogged jet into a list of defective or nonfunctional jets. The list of defective or nonfunctional jets, otherwise referred to herein as the "open jet list," is a record of all nonfunctional jets in the respective printhead cartridge. By updating the open jet list, a user of the ink jet printer may be notified as to when a printhead cartridge has an unacceptable number of nonfunctional jets. Additionally, the open jet list may be utilized to update the print masks, or jet group masks, of a printhead cartridge which is configured for multi-pass mode printing, such that one or more of the remaining functional jets in the printhead cartridge may compensate for the one or more defective jets in that printhead cartridge. This method and system for compensating for defective jets with the remaining functional jets in a printhead cartridge is described in greater detail in a co-pending, commonly-owned U.S. patent application entitled, "Open Jet Compensation During Multi-Pass Printing," application Ser. No. 09/127,397, filed currently herewith, and which is incorporated by reference herein.
A common way of measuring current in a circuit is to measure the voltage across a resistor in series with the circuit. Prior art methods of detecting nonfunctional jets have utilized this concept to measure current through printhead circuitry as one or more jets in a printhead cartridge are fired. For example, assume that each of four cartridges has four sets of 14 jets. Firing all the jets requires a sequence of 14 separate firings for the 14 jets in each set. During testing, only one jet in each set of jets is turned on at any instant in time. There is a resistor in series with each set of jets for each cartridge for a total of 16 series resistors. The voltage drop across a series resistor is due to a single jet firing. However, if no jet in that set is firing, the voltage drop will be zero. The voltage drop across each of the series resistors is typically connected through a diode to a common point and compared to a reference voltage. The output from the comparison is an indication of whether a jet is properly functioning. By firing each jet one at a time, it can be determined whether each one has electrical continuity.
The above-described method becomes less desirable as the number of jets and, hence, the number of sets of jets, increases, necessitating an increase in the number of series resistors. These series resistors waste energy, generate heat, waste board space and cost money. The prior art method also has limited functionality in that it only indicates that the current through a jet was greater than or less than some predetermined threshold. This type of indication does not distinguish between the different types of problems which may cause an ink jet to misfire, or not fire at all. For example, the prior art method cannot distinguish between a shorted power line, a shorted address line, or a damaged drop ejection resistor in an ink jet.